Some cabin crew members in Air India Express have accused the management of using instruments without checking them and underreporting their altitude. They say that this is being done so that they can be brought into the overweight category, which is a reason for being fired from the job. Kochi's Legal Metrology Department has seized the instruments as they were found untested. Air India Express has appealed to the High Court and has stayed further action by the department.
According to the employees, recently many cabin crew members have been fired from their jobs due to being overweight. Many of them have lodged complaints with the Labor Ministry and Metrology Department. The Regional Labor Commissioner had issued a show cause notice to the CEO of Air India Express a few days ago. A flight attendant said that when I joined Air India Express about 15 years ago, my height was 172 cm. Now, they took my measurements again and my height was recorded as 169 cm, which shows that my BMI is high.
14 employees fired
Leaders of the Air India Express Employees Union said the employees are being fired after the airline was privatized more than a year ago and their contract period was reduced from five years to one year. According to KK Vijayakumar, president of Air India Express Employees Union and national executive member of BMS, though at least 14 employees have lost their jobs, the management did not give any reason for firing them.
Contracts of pregnant women
Vijayakumar said that the contracts of many women returning to duty after delivery were reduced to one year. The management used to ask him to lose weight in a short time. When asked about the allegations, an Air India Express official said that your question covers various aspects, we think it may take a few days to prepare a comprehensive answer. An official of the Metrology Department said that efforts are being made to remove the High Court's stay and once that is done, further action will be taken.
Cabin crew sharing rooms:
Vijayakumar also said that cabin crew are being forced to share rooms with unfamiliar staff. He said that before privatisation, each cabin crew member was given a single room. As per norms, 12 hours of sleep is mandatory for cabin crew before take-off. If the management wants to cut costs, the cabin crew are ready to stay in three-star hotels instead of the current five-star hotels where they are being accommodated now.
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